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Topic: How Much is Too Much? (Read 12199 times)

I'd be fine with that too since I don't buy them either, but that would be evil.

If the deluxes were a buck less that's probably why I figured that then. I haven't bought a basic anything at TRU in quite a while. I assumed, if anything, the deluxes would be at least the same price or more.

Now, as much as I hate these prices, with the quality of these figures, it's worth the price. The sculpts and articulation are amazing. But CW and Movie Heroes at the inflated prices seems crazy considering the huge drop in quality (even though they do come with the stands, which are a nice bonus especially considering they have two foot pegs on them).

Also, I haven't been paying much attention to the BPs planned for this year (since the majority pretty much suck), but I guess I totally missed the fact that they are no longer boxed. That's sort of a double whammy... reduce packaging to cut cost AND still raise the price... nice.

I didn't notice the change in the packaging for the BPs before either, that's kind of different. I guess I haven't looked really closely at the BPs, since they are either crap or don't interest me. With all the better versions that are available out there now, the use of Commtech Han and CC Chewie is really a slap in the face at this point. Those figures, while nice for their time, should just be retired at this point. There might be certain manufacturing/etc. reasons that I don't know or understand to why they use older figures like this, but to me every time you're going to trot out a Han or Chewie repack (or this could go for other characters too), just use the VOTC Han and the EB Chewie. They are both nearly perfect figures that would also be repacks, and I know I even occasionally buy extras of figures like this since they are the "ultimate" versions. Same could go for any number of other characters (Luke, Obi-Wan, Anakin/Vader, troops, etc.)

I don't like to get too negative about collecting, because it is supposed to be fun, but this year will really be interesting I think. I'm still excited, for the vintage line in particular, as I think they are doing some of their best work overall (even with the price hike). But, the combination of using these old outdated figures, raising the prices, and having a number of action featurey/repacked figures taking up the bulk of the releases elsewhere will really test the line this year I think. Still not sure how much "kids" are going to care about the TPM re-release aside from a figure or two, and I think the bulk of collectors are going to stay away from that Movie Heroes stuff.

There might be certain manufacturing/etc. reasons that I don't know or understand to why they use older figures like this

Here's the reason - $$$$$$$$

They just figure out which factory is going to be running these BPs, then figure out which tools are available at that factory, then figure out the 'best' (and by 'best' I mean cheapest) tool to use to make the figures at that factory. Pretty much end of story.

For stuff aimed at collectors (like those Target Kenner 3-Packs), yeah, they pretty much used some of the best sculpts they had for each of those figures because they knew they had to in order to get colectors to buy. But for stuff like this (aimed primarily at kids), they don't care about the "best" version, just "a" version that kids won't hate.

Maybe they could get more cross-sell to collectors if they included better versions, but maybe not enough to justify the increase in cost using those other tools or having to run them at a different factory or whatever. Or maybe Hasbro figures since most collectors are ignoring this CW/Maul package stuff anyway, why bother? Why not just crank out the cheap stuff for kids and splurge on the good stuff in Vintage line only?

I think Hasbro finally is realizing they they can't just take for granted that collectors are going to fork over a premium price for figures just because of nifty packaging. The collector market is a major niche for them and in order to still eat that piece of the pie, they needed to step up to the plate... my fingers are crossed that 2012 will be better in terms of distribution and quality across the TVC line. The only stinker I see right now is when they use a bulky/large helmet on a Phase 2 clone. Other than that, I think I've liked everthing I've seen.

With the other lines, they feel they can get away with less effort and still hit their sales goals - while it's frustrating for us, and to a degree if might hurt some sales, Hasbro is banking their reward is high enough to do it. They're out to make money after all, just like any business should be.

On another note, I wonder if Hasbro looks at all at the collector niche, and thinks they need to keep us interested to a degree because it can help them tap into our kids as a market more too in the future... just kinda curious about that. That may or not even be on their radar, but I know that what I collect certainly influences the interest level of my son.

As astounded as I was that Hasbro was bringing some old "stinker" figures out of retirement for rerelease, I'm even more astounded at the premium prices they're charging for them. I mean, come on, you couldn't even give that 2002 Saga Darth Maul away for a dollar back when it came out, and now they're going to try and charge 9 bucks for it, alongside several other Darth Mauls? Really?

Oh well, outside of Vintage and the, what, five new Clone Wars figures (?) this year, that pretty much means it's all Lego, all the time. Hasbro, my wallet thanks you, and Lego thanks you.

The higher prices have shyed me away from buying figures that I don't necessarily want all that badly. For example, I really want The Deleted Scene Luke, Leia, and Lando. I would like to get the Mon Calamari Pilot. I have some interest in Colonel Cracken. So, if I were to see these 5 figures in the store I'd buy up Luke, Leia, and Lando. However, more than likely I'll let the other 2 sit there. I may or may not pick them up later.

Now compare that to when the figures were around $6.50 or less I would buy them all up without hesitation. Now it's a "What do I really want to get here?" I may never pick up those other 2 figures because in another wave I may want Maul, Kenobi, Jinn, but I may let the Naboo Royal Guard, Gungan, and Anakin sit.

In the end I may end up buying half of the figures I would have bought if they were cheaper. This kind of thinking on my part increases each time the prices are uped. It may come to a point where I have to decide "I'm going to pick up Deleted Scene Luke, but leave Leia and Lando on the pegs."

By that point I am only buying 10% of what is out there where in the past I'd probably by 90-100%.

I've usually been one to just keep my collecting relatively the same as the prices have crept up, but I'm starting to get more of the "do I really want this?" mindset now as well. Granted, I'm sure I'll end up picking up most of them still (particularly with the OT, likely all), but I am getting more selective with fringe stuff and extras now. For example, with the prequel characters, they can really knock it out of the park with some of the "senator" type characters - and that's cool - but in the end, they are sort of boring in many cases. Paying $10 for those becomes more of a stretch for me. New Hoth Luke? I'm all in. Daultay Dofine - no matter how nice - has me thinking twice about how badly I really need this character.

In cases like the really nice yet boring type figures, waiting for the inevitable sales is probably the best bet, especially with the first wave of a series, which usually ends up pegwarming to some degree as it's usually over saturated, and the kiddies aren't exactly clamoring for Daulty Dofine. If Hasbro can get their case assortments a little bit better this year, then there's really no reason you shouldn't be able to score everything for a decent price with a little patience. There aren't too many figures these days that I have a "must have right this second" mentality on (minus the really cool aliens like Bom Vimdin and such) and Ive managed to get practically everything during 2011's run at a fair price.